Hundreds gather to memorialize peace-loving young man killed in crash

At a memorial luncheon for Ethan Moyer on Sunday at Shawnee Inn, scores of photographs of the 20-year-old were displayed. There were pictures of Moyer playing the drum, making funny faces, wrestling with friends, teasing his sister and flashing the peace sign.

It was hard to miss all the pictures around the room, and it was even harder to miss what all those pictures meant.

At a memorial luncheon for Ethan Moyer on Sunday at Shawnee Inn, scores of photographs of the 20-year-old were displayed. There were pictures of Moyer playing the drum, making funny faces, wrestling with friends, teasing his sister and flashing the peace sign.

Moyer, the photographs showed, loved life and was positive about it. And the mood on Sunday reflected that. Moyer was killed last Tuesday when a man whom police said was driving drunk hit his car.

While family and friends said Sunday that they were hurting deeply, they also said that they came to celebrate the life of a young man who always tried to remain positive and spread good vibes.

"Above everything else, this is a celebration of life," said Moyer's mother, Lin, who sat with Moyer's father, Ron, at the head of the room at the resort. On the wall behind them there was a screen onto which pictures from Moyer's life were projected.

Hundreds of people stood in line to speak with Moyer's parents. When people first entered the room, a sign instructed them to take a few stickers, which had the words "love" and "peace" on them.

"Take one, spread the peace," read a sign near a basket filled with the stickers. Many who showed up also wore peace sign necklaces because Moyer loved wearing such symbols.

Moyer, a student at Northampton Community College, was returning with a friend from a movie early Tuesday morning and was only a few blocks from his house when he was killed.

Moyer's friend, Andrew Passione, who survived the crash, was at the memorial and was looking at old yearbooks. Passione was able to smile and tell stories about his friend.

"I'm able to get through this, and all of us are able to maintain a positive feeling today, because Ethan was so positive," said Passione, who added that he has made a full recovery.

As the afternoon wore on, different kinds of music — music that Ethan loved and played as a drummer — could be heard playing softly in the background. At one point, Led Zeppelin could be heard.

"There are no words in these kinds of situations," said Rachel Moyer, Ethan's 25-year-old sister. "But this is how Ethan would have wanted it: with Zeppelin playing in the background and all."